The Bounty Hunters
by book-worm-0135
Summary: Gretel and Hansel are forced to stop at Hadrian's wall, a place they have taken great pains to avoid. At the wall Arthur and his sarmatian knights are stationed. Old and new alliances are formed.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, obviously I don't own any of these characters (I wish!). I love reviews, so please feel free. Also advice is more than welcome, I know there are mistakes and stuff so feel free to let me know but in a nice, polite way. thanks! hope you enjoy.

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The fortress loomed above her as they trudged through the mud. The clouds groaning as another streak of lightning lit the sky. Pulling her cloak closer to her she shivered. Glancing sideways at her companion, her brother sat hunched in the saddle, cloak wrapped tightly around himself. She could see he was even paler than when they had started out. The long journey coupled with the rain and cold had worsened his case drastically. She faced the front again as they plodded along, she didn't dare travel faster than a slow walk for fear of her brother falling off. Passing through the outside barrier of the fortress she cast her eyes forward. All that could be seen through the fog and rain was fields. The only thing giving them direction was the well-worn path they followed.

Eventually the formation of a small town could be made out. It was an army fortress but people came and went. She hadn't wanted to stop here, it was too well known and aside from that, her brother and she were not welcomed warmly amongst the army. Another notch against the fortress was that she knew all too well it was where the great Sarmatian knights were stationed, although she wasn't too sure about the great part of that statement. There had been many rumours and stories about these famed knights, but she would believe them when she had seen it. However her brother's condition had forced her hand and they had switched paths to head to the famed Hadrian's Wall. Now though, as they passed through an arc into the town, she was not sure on the soundness of her plan.

Passing through the streets they eventually stumbled upon a tavern. Halting, she quickly dismounted and went to her brother.

"Hansel" she said, watching him worriedly as his bleary gaze flickered to her. Moving the horse in under a shelter she turned her attention back to him.

"I'm going to go in and see if they have a room" she continued "stay here"

He didn't reply as she turned and headed into the tavern. The first thing she noticed upon entering was the noise, after traveling with just her brother for company for weeks on end it seemed such a foreign scene to have so many people in such a small space. The room opened up into a small courtyard where a number of small fires were lit and surrounded by men trying to ward of the cold. Moving swiftly through the crowd of drunken men and whores she headed towards the counter. A pretty woman with fiery red hair stood behind the it with a child attached to her hip. Reaching the counter she stopped feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Someone was watching her. She had purposefully kept her cloak on and hood up to stop any unwanted advances from men. The cloths she wore were old ones of her brothers, in general not suitable for a young woman. Alas it seemed she had drawn the unwanted attention of somebody. Sweeping her gaze around the room it finally settled on a man half hidden in the shadows. Long dark hair filled with braids, surrounded sharp angular cheek bones. His dark gaze pierced her to the spot, lifting her chin she meet his gaze confidently.

"What can I do for you love?" swinging around, she faced the red headed woman, who stood in front of her expectantly.

"I'm looking for a room" she replied, glancing back at the man she found his gaze focused elsewhere.

"Not a problem" the woman continued, pointing back the way she had come the red head continued "just across the road to the right is an inn, they'll be able to help you love"

With a nod she turned and moved swiftly through the crowd again, her back prickling with the knowledge that his gaze had once again fallen upon her. Pushing open the door she trudged through the rain to where her brother waited. Grabbing both horses she led them down the road to the inn. Grabbing their belongings off each horse before moving to help her brother dismount. It was an arduous process. He was stiff and sore and each movement caused pain. Gradually he was eased of his horse and with a grunt of pain his feet where on the ground.

"Sorry" she muttered, he nodded sharply and they turned moving slowly towards the inn. Eventually they made it in. It was a small room with a simply counter being the only feature of it. A man sat sleeping behind the counter his large snores filling the room. His stomach stretched the fabric of both his trousers and shirt. Shaking her head in annoyance she left her brother propped up against the wall and moved forward, sharply banging her fist on the counter. The man woke with a start and an even louder snort. Muttering, he glared at her as he clambered to his feet which seemed to be as difficult a task as helping Hansel dismount had been.

"What?!" he spat

"I need a room" she replied tightly, huffing and puffing the man grabbed a key and moved from behind the counter towards the stairs. Moving back to Hansel she helped him shuffle awkwardly up the stairs behind the man. They were led to the second door on the right. The man unlock it before shuffling back down the stairs. She led Hansel into the room surveying it quickly. There was two small cots with a bedside table separating them.

"Get out of your cloths" she mumbled leaving Hansel standing and quickly stripped the top blankets off one bed and put them on the other. Dropping the two bags on the ground she pulled out a dry pair of cloths for Hansel and threw them on the bed. Turning around she found him struggling to remove his soaked pants. Moving forward she gently help him strip before putting on a dry pair of pants. Glancing up at him she assessed his injuries. His face was still bruised but it was a vast improvement to what it used to be. Moving down his body she assessed his shoulder, which had been dislocated. The bruising had faded to yellowish/brown colour. Moving further down, she assessed his most worrisome injury. A large gash across the right side of his body, starting from under his arm pit and finishing near the bottom of his ribs, it was covered by some dirty and wet bandage. She was fairly certain he had also broken and bruised a number of ribs. Grabbing some fresh bandages and cream she set about clean the gash and rebandaging it. Above all else hoping that infection didn't set in. Once he was vaguely clean and dry he laid down and buried himself under the blankets. Leaving him for a few moments she left to go and fix the horses before returning as quickly as she could. Upon entering the room again she watched him worriedly as he tossed and turned. Fixing the blankets around him securing, she cleaned herself up and crawled into bed. As she drifted into sleep her mind couldn't help but wander back to the man from the taverns penetrating gaze.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning she woke from a fitful night of nightmares ranging from Hansel's lifeless face staring at her to the man from the tavern with the piercing gaze. Standing stiffly she stretched trying to remove the aches and pains from her body. Although Hansel had been hurt the most she had not escaped unscathed. Dressing as quickly as she could, she turned to find her brother still sleeping, at least it seemed to be more restful then before. Grabbing her still damp cloak she wrapped it around herself and headed out the door, down the stairs and out of the inn. The morning chill along with the slight drizzle immediately assaulted her and did not help with the state of her cloak. Heading across the street to the tavern she pushed through the door and headed in. The place was nearly empty compared to last night. The man from the previous night was seated in the same seat. Her previous bravado from the night before seemed to have vanished and she ducked her head walking to the counter. The woman from last night had been replaced by a younger brunette. Ordering some bread and soup she turned to go and sit down but instead ran straight into a solid chest of muscle. Rebounding she immediately tensed as a set of hands grabbed her forearms to steady her. Shoving the stranger away and hurriedly moving back she immediately felt for her knife that was safely secured to her belt. Looking up into the face of the man she had bumped into she froze. It was a face that she hadn't seen for over 10 years. Although aged she could easy recognise it. It also seemed that he recognised her as well.

"Gretel?" he questioned, standing before him gaping like a fish out of water she had no response. The man before her was the main reason for trying to avoid Hadrian's Wall. Taken from their village 13 years ago, she hadn't seen him since and didn't know if he lived or not. It was two years after he had left that her mother and father had both passed away from an illness and her brother and her had decided it was best to leave before they came back for more Sarmatian boys. Since then they had made a formidable name for themselves as bounty hunters, which the Roman army frowned upon.

"Is that you Gretel?!" he questioned, gathering her wits she responded

"I don't know who you're talking about" she replied coolly. Moving quickly around him to sit at a table to await her meal. It was too much to hope that he wouldn't follow her but he did, sitting down immediately opposite her. He didn't say a word just watched her with a grin on his face, she could see some other men watching them closely, including the man from the previous night. They must have been is fellow Sarmatian knights. He had aged, the man that sat before was no longer the young boy who had been like an older brother to her. His once dark brown hair was now flecked with grey through it, although it didn't detract from his attractiveness it seemed to add a sense of mysteriousness about him. Finally after what felt like an eternity her meal was called as ready. Standing quickly she moved to the counter and could feel him follow her. Grabbing her meal she turned to leave but stopped, she didn't want to ask the woman about medical supplies with him standing there. Though she didn't believe he meant any harm it still showed a weakness that one of them was wounded. However it could not be avoided, she had run out of supplies and needed to resupply. Turning around she faced the young woman before her.

"Is there a place that I can find medical supplies?" she asked

"Are you hurt?" he butted in before the young woman could reply. His gazed scanned her quickly looking concerned. Ignoring him completely she focused her attention on the woman in front of her.

"Well?" she asked irriatably as remained close lipped after a quick shake of his head from the man beside her "are you not going to tell me?"

"Nope" he said, grinning again "at least not until I tell her to, so why don't you talk to me" huffing exasperatedly she turned to face him. She didn't like this, she was rapidly losing control of this situation. It had been years since she had felt like that. She didn't like it.

"Fine" she grumbled "long time, no see Kay"

"You can say that again" Kay replied, he paused look her up and down "you don't look hurt so I'm guessing you are travelling with someone"

"No" she returned "just restocking"

"So you are on your own?" he said, looking shocked

"Yes" came her sharp response "now if you would excuse me I have to go" he let her get as far as the door before he called out, stopping her. By now they had all the inhabitants of the tavern watching them, carefully. She was willing to bet that all the men in here were his fellow knights, and if she wasn't careful her brother would join those ranks. She turned back to face him. He was leaning nonchalantly against the counter watching her.

"If you are on your own why are you in such a hurry? And if I know you, which I do, where you go, Hansel follows" he let that statement hang in the air, watching her tense before continuing "so come now Gretel, where is your baby brother?"


End file.
